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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoTOM DODGECoco, an Asian bull elephant, was born in the wild, probably in Thailand, and was about 3 when the zoo obtained him in 1974, assistant curator Harry Peachey said.

Zoo seeks answers in death of Coco -

Tissue samples from the body of Coco the Asian bull elephant were shipped to labs throughout the
country yesterday after the animal's unexpected death Wednesday at the Columbus Zoo and
Aquarium.

Zookeepers found Coco down in the elephant building at 7a.m. Wednesday. When he didn't stand up,
they worked frantically with local firefighters to raise him enough that his body weight would not
constrict his internal organs. He weighed about 11,000 pounds.

Neither inflatable bags nor a hoist was enough. The elephant, about 40 years old, could not
stand, and died just before 3p.m. from the pressure of lying on his side, Peachey said.

"We know what killed him, but we don't know why."

Three of the zoo's four remaining elephants were allowed into the building with Coco's body
after his death. Peachey said they examined the tip of his trunk with their trunks and touched
other parts of his body.

Beco, Coco's 2-year-old son, put his head behind his father's head and pushed, as if trying to
help him up, Peachey said.

Zoo veterinarians and nearly 30 students from Ohio State University's College of Veterinary
Medicine spent nearly seven hours Wednesday night conducting a necropsy, an animal autopsy. Tissue
samples were sent to laboratories that study elephants.

Zookeepers kept Coco's tusks as well as his front feet to study their anatomy. The other remains
were buried on zoo property. Results from toxicology tests are expected to take more than a
month.

Zoo spokeswoman Patty Peters said hundreds of people have posted condolences and memories on
Facebook. Grief counseling will be made available to zoo staff members because animals such as Coco
are like family members.

Peachey helped care for Coco for most of the elephant's 37 years at the zoo. Coco was born in
the wild, probably in Thailand, and was about 3 when the zoo obtained him from an animal dealer in
1974, Peachey said.

As a young elephant, Coco made up a game of "fetch" with his keepers. He'd pick up an empty beer
keg, push it into the elephant pool and let it fill with water. Then he'd pull it out and let the
water drain out, expecting the keepers to pick it up and toss it back into the pool.

"He'd do that five or six times," Peachey said. "It was him teaching us."

Dispatch archives show that Coco was close to death from an intestinal infection in
1987.

He wouldn't take the prescribed antibiotic, despite attempts by keepers to hide the pills in his
favorite treats. Finally, the keepers hid the pills in sticks of gum, and Coco swallowed them and
eventually got better.

Other elephants have died at the zoo.

• In 2005, 7-year-old Ganesh was found dead in his stall. A necropsy determined the Asian male
elephant died of the herpes virus, which produces sudden hemorrhaging.

• Asian elephant Bomba was euthanized in 1999 because of foot abscesses that had destroyed bones
and tendons. She was in her late 50s.

• Bud, an African bull elephant, died of an intestinal obstruction in 1991 at age 20 after
living at the zoo for 19 years. Parts of his body were taken to OSU's veterinary school for study.
His skull was kept at the zoo for educational purposes.

• In 1974, Tanzy, a female Asian elephant, died of acute bacterial pneumonia and an intestinal
inflammation, a necropsy found. Tanzy had been at the zoo for 33 years and was 38 to 40 years
old.